How and when to use an AED during cardiac arrest

You’ve probably seen one at the airport, your doctor’s office, or maybe the mall. That white, windowed box jutting out from the wall that holds an automated external defibrillator, or AED.

AEDs are used to help shock a heart back into a normal rhythm, as was the case when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered sudden cardiac arrest on the field. AED’s are typically found in public places, although a high-risk person may have a prescription for a home device.

Everyone should take a CPR course with AED training, but if you haven’t, the device itself will tell you what to do in an emergency. We asked Landon Mueller, an emergency medicine physician at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, Md., to give a step-by-step demonstration. (You’ll need to turn the sound on).

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